Rotherham Titans (40) vs Bedford Blues (32) - Championship
Pre-Match Report
Rotherham Ready For Bedford Battle
Rotherham Titans Head Coach Andre Bester has made five changes to the starting fifteen that faced Plymouth last time out in the Championship.
In accordance with his squad rotation policy there are two changes in the backs and three in the pack. The back line sees Byron Godfrey and Matt Rhodes return for Elliott Brierley and Jimmy Williams, the latter has a place on the bench.
The pack receives a welcome return of fans favourite Rob O’Donnell who makes his first start of the season at tight head prop, replacing Ben Hooper. Ted Stagg makes his full debut at hooker for Dan Baines as does Barney Maddison at lock; he comes in for the injured Talite Vaioleti.
Another welcome return to the squad is club captain Sam Dickinson, Sam will be on the bench after his lenghty lay off through injury.
There will be some familiar faces returning to Clifton Lane on Saturday, with five ex Titans in the Bedford starting fifteen. Brendan Burke at full back, fly half Jamie Lennard and a complete front row consisting of Nico Steenkamp, Neil Cochrane and Phil Boulton.
The history of games betweenRotherhamandBedfordgoes back many years and all but a few have resulted in tight, closely contested affairs. There have been 22 previous league encounters between the clubs (Not counting play-off’s and cup games) andBedfordhold a slim overall12-10 advantage.
Looking ahead to the game Andre Bester commented, “Bedfordare a very good side, they have benefited from consistency and continuity in their management and players for a long time now. But it will give us another opportunity to test ourselves as a group and to gain more experience and improve.
“Our problem this year has been that we’ve shot ourselves in the foot the whole time, if we hadn’t done, then we would have been still undefeated now. We can’t afford to do that againstBedfordbecause they will punish us heavily if we do so. But we don’t go into the game expecting to loose.
“The squad has been selected strictly on rotation basis, we have to do this. We can’t play the same 15 week in week out all season, otherwise when we come to the business end of the season most of them won’t have the energy reserves to compete.”
Rotherham Titans: 15 Stephen Hamilton, 14 Shane Monahan, 13 Byron Godfrey, 12 Palepoi Nonu, 11 Peter Homan, 10 Garry Law, 9 Matt Rhodes, 1 Jamie Kilbane, 2 Ted Stagg, 3 Rob O’Donnell, 4 Neale Patrick, 5 Barney Maddison, 6 Robin Copeland, 7 Sean Dougall (capt.), 8 Semisi Taulava
Replacements: Dan Baines, Ben Hooper, Ben Harris, Adrian Griffiths, Sam Dickinson, Jimmy Williams, Cliffie Hodgson.
Bedford Blues: 15. Brendan Burke, 14. David Vincent, 13. Duncan Taylor, 12. Ollie Dodge, 11. Handre Schmidt, 10. Jamie Lennard, 9. Darryl Veenendaal, 1. Nico Steenkamp, 2. Neil Cochrane, 3. Phil Boulton, 4. Sean Tomes, 5. Paul Tupai, 6. Alex Rae (c), 7. Sacha Harding, 8. Jon Fisher
Replacements: 16. Chris Locke, 17. Dan Seal, 18. Billy Johnson, 19. Sam Pailor, 20. Ali Price, 21. Jake Sharp, 22. Mark Kohler
Match Report
Titans Beat Bedford In Thriller
Rotherham Titans mounted a terrific 2nd half fight back to stun Championship Leaders Bedford Blues 40-32 in an exhilarating game atClifton Lane.
The game was a wonderful advert for the Championship with some outstanding rugby played by both sides. A total of 72 points were scored with four ties apiece and some exceptional kicking from Titans fly half Garry Law.
Rotherham were worthy of their 9-8 lead after 25 minutes, (three Garry Law penalties to a Neil Cochrane try and a Jamie Lennard penalty) when Titans centre Pale Nonu was yellow carded for killing the ball. The resulting 10 minutes of action saw Bedford ruthlessly punish the hosts for their indiscipline, with wing David Vincent scoring two converted tries to give the visitors a healthy 22-9 lead.
Suddenly, from being more than a match for the league leaders,Rotherhamwas on the back foot and under pressure. They were relieved to hear Referee Andrew Taylorson’s half time whistle, in order to regroup and re-gather their composure.
Rejuvenated, it took Rotherham just three minutes into the 2nd half to make their mark. A line out close to Bedford’s line saw Matt Rhodes feed inside to Pale Nonu, Nonu redeemed himself spectacularly for his earlier transgression, as he crashed through the visitors defence with great power to touch down. Law converted.
Just 10 minutes later and Rotherham were ahead! This time it was Tongan Semisi Taulava who picked up from the base of a scrum and showed tremendous strength and commitment to power over in the corner. Law’s fine conversion from the touchline sailed through the sticks to nudge the hosts 23-22 ahead.
Bedfordis a fine side and a response from them was anticipated. That response came on the hour mark when a loose Titans line out was gathered and quickly spread across field to Brendan Burke. Burke drew the defence before letting in wing Hendre Schmidt who showed good pace to touch down for a converted try.
As the game entered the last 10 minutes Jamie Lennard traded his drop goal with a Garry Law penalty to leave Bedford 6 points to the good. However, the green shoots of progress and cohesion that Titans have been showing recently came to the fore.
Six minutes from time saw another Rotherham scrum and another break from the base of it from Semisi Taulava. It appeared as if half theBedfordteam was hanging from Taulava as his sheer strength and tenacity carried him over the line for his second try of the match. Law made the conversion to give the hosts the narrowest of leads.
It got even better for Rotherhamon 80 minutes and again Taulava was heavily involved. The big Tongan broke from a scrum and made good progress down the right flank. He drew the tackle before off loading to right wing Shane Monahan.
The Irish flyer showed tremendous pace to beat the cover defence and touch down in the corner to give Titans the try bonus point. Law capped a perfect kicking afternoon with his conversion from the touchline to giveRotherhama well deserved victory.
Post match a very pleased Andre Bester commented, “I said to the players at half time to just trust themselves and they would win the match. I told them they were the better side, but they needed to trust themselves and show composure.
“It was pleasing to get the backs on the scoreboard and it was pleasing to do it against a side like Bedford who have been fairly dominant so far this season. We scored 31 points in the 2nd half and the interesting thing is we only conceded one penalty in the 2nd half and that was the critical part and that made the difference.
“We are very happy with the win and we’ll enjoy it today. The potential within the squad is immense, but we go to Nottingham next Friday evening and we need to start from scratch again, so we will not get carried away.”
Rotherham Titans Scorers: Taulava (2T), Nonu (T), Monahan (T), Law (4P,4C).
Bedford Blues Scorers: Cochrane (T), Schmidt (T), David Vincent (2T), Lennard (1P,3C,1D/G).
Referee: Andrew Taylorson
Att: 1487
RotherhamTitans: 15 Stephen Hamilton, 14 Shane Monahan, 13 Byron Godfrey, 12 Palepoi Nonu, 11 Peter Homan, 10 Garry Law, 9 Matt Rhodes, 1 Jamie Kilbane, 2 Ted Stagg, 3 Rob O’Donnell, 4 Neale Patrick, 5 Barney Maddison, 6 Robin Copeland, 7 Sean Dougall (capt.), 8 Semisi Taulava
Replacements: Dan Baines, Ben Hooper, Ben Harris, Adrian Griffiths, Sam Dickinson, Jimmy Williams, Cliffie Hodgson.
BedfordBlues: 15. Brendan Burke, 14. David Vincent, 13. Duncan Taylor, 12. Ollie Dodge, 11. Hendre Schmidt, 10. Jamie Lennard, 9. Darryl Veenendaal, 1. Nico Steenkamp, 2. Neil Cochrane, 3. Phil Boulton, 4. Sean Tomes, 5. Paul Tupai, 6. Alex Rae (c), 7. Sacha Harding, 8. Jon Fisher
Replacements: 16. Chris Locke, 17. Dan Seal, 18. Billy Johnson, 19. Sam Pailor, 20. Ali Price, 21. Jake Sharp, 22. Mark Kohler
